Building bridges between love of place and taking action to protect it.

Conservation Priorities

Our education, stewardship, and advocacy programs are defined by four conservation priorities:

ENVIRONMENTAL LITERACY

Inspire, engage, inform

We believe that sharing knowledge and building awareness of our natural world and of issues impacting the places we love to play is the foundation for all informed policy action and individual action. We inspire recreationists to build an understanding and appreciation for the natural world that translates into caring and protecting our wild places. Visit our Conservation Blog, and explore our amazing books for more on how we work to protect the outdoor experience.

PROTECT THE WILD BACKCOUNTRY

Defend wild, intact landscapes

The Mountaineers advocates for protecting and designating wilderness areas, wild and scenic rivers, maintaining the integrity of road-free areas, and the appropriate management of motorized recreation in both summer and winter. By preserving wild, intact lands we save the defining features of the Pacific Northwest and provide the ability for current and future generations to undertake backcountry adventures and explore the untamed natural world.

RESPONSIBLE RECREATIONAL ACCESS

Protect connections to wildlands and opportunities for exploration

Recreational access to public lands is essential to the continued conservation and stewardship of the outdoors. The Mountaineers preserves connections to healthy landscapes by supporting the maintenance of recreational access infrastructure — roads, trails, access routes — where environmentally appropriate. We work with land managers to steward recreational infrastructure and provide input on fees and policies that effect human-powered recreational use of public lands.

LOW IMPACT RECREATION

Prevent and respond to backcountry recreation impacts

Recognized as a leader in best practices for outdoor activities, The Mountaineers has a great capacity to reduce and prevent recreational impacts to the environment. By aligning with the principles and skills promoted by the Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Education, The Mountaineers is a regional leader and on the cutting edge of training educators and leaders in the field. Partnerships with land managers will thrive as The Mountaineers works to identify and restore backcountry areas that have seen over-use or abuse by recreationists.